https://southfront.org/syrian-war-report-may-4-2017-rebel-civil-war-in-eastern-ghouta/
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Voiceover by Harold Hoover
Clashes continued between Jaish al-Islam and the joint forces of the Al-Rahman Corps and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (formerly Jabhat al-Nusra, the Syrian branch of al-Qaeda) in the Eastern Ghouta region near Damascus.
The Al-Rahman Corps and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) captured the village of Beit Sawa from Jaish al-Islam. Earlier this week, Jaish al-Islam killed a commander of the Al-Rahman Corps “Samer Al-Saleh” after he had surrendered to Jaish al-Islam members.
According to reports, 146 people, including 30 civilians, have been killed in the on-going fighting between militant groups in Eastern Ghouta.
The infighting among militants erupted in Eastern Ghouta in late April after the Al-Rahman Corps and HTS had blamed Jaish al-Islam for their failure at breaking the siege on the al-Qaboun pocket where members of Al-Rahman corps, Ahrar al-Sham, and the HTS were encircled by government forces.
Prominent Iranian Major General Qasem Soleimani, a commander of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), has been wounded in the Syrian province of Daraa, near the border with Jordan, according to a number of pro-opposition and pro-opposition media activists. Reports have not been confirmed by photo or video evidence and have not been commented on by the Iranian Defense Ministry.
The Quds Force is a special forces unit of the IRGC responsible for extraterritorial operation. In Syria, Soleimani is responsible for overseeing the various pro-Iranian militias operating in the country and coordination of the Iranian efforts with Damascus and Moscow.
Reports about the alleged incident followed a deployment of large Syrian army reinforcements to the province of Daraa in order to repel the on-going operation of HTS and its allies in the provincial capital.
The deployed reinforcements should allow government forces to stabilize the situation in the provincial capital.
Meanwhile, the Syrian army and Hezbollah have carried out a series of operations against militants in the Daraa countryside. Pro-government forces targeted 3 vehicles of Jaish Al-Islam and other Free Syrian Army groups with IEDs on the road between Al-Masifra and Al-Karak, on the road between the city of Basra al-Harir and the town of Naheta, and on the road of the village of Umm al-Mayazn. Dozens of Jaish al-Islam militants were killed.
ISIS announced that 16 suicide bombers attacked positions of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the town of Al-Shadadi in the Al-Hasakah province. The suicide bombers managed to sneak into the city and attacked positions of the SDF and the US Special Forces in the districts of Masakin al-Ghar and Al-Mitin. Two other groups attacked positions allegedly belonging to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in the village of Al-Hariri and the vicinity of the Rujm Salibi camp. ISIS militants shelled positions inside Al-Shaddadi with heavy artillery and Grad rockets during the operation. The SDF denied that ISIS members were able to penetrate the group’s defensive lines.
Yesterday, ISIS launched an attack on SDF positions in Al-Sifsafeh in the eastern part of the town of Tabqa. The SDF repelled the attack, killed a group of ISIS militants, and destroyed a technical. The SDF also announced that clashes in northern districts of Tabqa continued and SDF troops killed 20 ISIS militants and seized many weapons and ammunition.
clarification here re Astana “zones’ in Syria
“The establishment of de-escalation zones in Syria needs no UN Security Council authorization but the guarantor states will notify it as they are confident in the UN support, Alexander Lavrentyev said.
“The Astana process is an absolutely independent mechanism, capable of making decisions and monitoring their implementation, the three guarantor states are sufficient to implement the reached agreements. No UN Security Council authorization is needed to take any decisions,” Lavrentyev told reporters.
“Of course, we, as guarantor states, will notify the Security Council of the decisions taken, first of all on the memorandum on the creation of zones of de-escalation. I am sure the member states of the Security Council and the UN member states will support this decision,” the diplomat added.
The four Syrian de-escalation zones will be a no-go area for coalition combat aircraft, the guarantor states will monitor the issue closely, Russian delegation head at Astana talks and Special Presidential Representative for Syria said.
“The work of combat aircraft in zones of de-escalation, especially of the international coalition planes, is not expected at all, with or without notification. The issue is closed,” Lavrentyev told reporters.
“The only thing that the international coalition aviation can work on is targets of the Islamic state [banned in Russia], located in the area of concentration of forces of this group, in the area of Raqqa, in other settlements in the region of Euphrates, Deir ez-Zor and on the Iraqi territory,” Lavrentyev stressed.”
etc
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201705051053298592-russia-syria-attack/
plus
https://sputniknews.com/world/201705051053297983-syria-talks-astana/
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More info on the international “safe zone” agreement.
Memorandum Signed: What Are the Safe, or De-Escalation, Zones in Syria?
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201705041053288240-safe-zones-syria-de-escalation/
“Russian delegation head at Astana talks and Special Presidential Representative for Syria Alexander Lavrentyev said that the delegation had not managed to speak to the representatives of the armed Syrian opposition, even though there were topics for discussion.
“Unfortunately, we did not manage to speak to the armed opposition, even though we had issues to discuss from the point of view of the decisions which were taken at this meeting within the framework of reaching the memorandum on de-escalation zones,” Lavrentyev told reporters.”
The “armed opposition” he is referring to are the ones who walked out of the negotiations and who I presume are controlled by israel (through the pindo/nato colonies). While trump may have signaled agreement to Putin in their recent call about these “safe zones”, I suspect israel will have their pindo/nato colonies continue their terrorists war against Syria, as before. It’s what cowardly israelis and their pathetic colonies do.
Syrian Opposition ‘Must Comply’ With De-Escalation Zones Deal – Moscow
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201705051053306654-safe-zones-syria-de-escalation-russia-opposition/
“The armed opposition is one of the two Syrian parties in these agreements. Of course they must comply,” Bogdanov told reporters.
He said that Turkey, as one of three ceasefire guarantors, “assumed responsibility for compliance by the armed opposition with those agreements that were reached in Astana.”
Interesting. Does that mean turkey gets to confront the usa/nato when israel orders these to work on sabotaging the agreement?
Turkish Bombs May ‘Accidentally’ Hit US Troops in Syria – Erdogan Chief Adviser
https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201705031053248431-erdogan-adviser-on-us-presence-in-syria/
“Commenting on the situation in northern Syria, Ilnur Cevic, chief adviser to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said that the situation had deteriorated to the point where he couldn’t rule out US troops operating alongside Kurdish forces being “accidentally” (i.e. deliberately) struck by Turkish missiles.”
Pentagon finally ‘admits’ US jets bombed mosque with civilians in Syria
https://www.rt.com/news/387195-pentagon-syria-mosque-airstrike-report/
They initially lied, and the zio-gay public manipulation machine spread disinfo, now they make not credible excuses. Obviously, the zionazis carried out the attack deliberately on what they knew to be an innocent gathering of civilians. This is a standard tactic of theirs used to radicalise people.